One of the most admirable things about Jim Nussle was his steadfastness on abortion, his complete lack of equivocation on a matter over which many a politician has worn flip-flops down to the toe-strap.
Until now.
In survey by the non-partisan Project Vote Smart, Nussle, the GOP candidate for governor, says abortion should be legal only within the first trimester of a pregnancy. Moreover, Nussle said abortions should be available to women who are victims of rape and incest.
These answers, which he sent running mate Bob Vander Plaats out to defend, run completely counter to what Nussle told me (on tape) in an interview at Sam's Sodas & Sandwiches in downtown Carroll - and therefore what he told all of you.
We asked Nussle directly twice if there are any situations in which a woman should be allowed to have an abortion legally.
He did not offer any such circumstances and said he makes no exceptions in his pro-life position, even in cases where a woman is raped or her own life is at risk.
"Those are very difficult challenges and my position has been that I believe life begins at conception and I don't have any exceptions to my pro-life position," Nussle said during this interview.
Which prompted this columnist to compliment Nussle's consistency and intellectual honesty (then) with the following paragraph in a column:
"That's a tough and potentially politically costly response, especially with a general election and a possible gender gap and more suburban voters to consider."
Then, over the Labor Day weekend, I'm reading Nussle's answers on the Project Vote Smart Web site and thinking that one of his staff members must have made a major mistake in filling out this survey - or that someone was messing with the candidate.
Nussle's press secretary did not return my call to ask for a clarification on this so I'm left with Vander Plaats' words and those of Nick Ryan, the congressman's campaign manager, who has been widely quoted by other media on all of this confusion.
Ryan says Nussle would sign a law that bans second and third trimester abortions.
Or looking at it the other way, a Governor Jim Nussle would support a woman's right to have an abortion during the first three months of her pregnancy.
Ryan stands by the survey and it is still standing online in its entirety, with no changes to the answers on abortion.
The reason this is so important politically is because many traditional Democrats in Carroll County vote for Republican largely based on the abortion issue. They see not just as single, stand-alone issue, but as a bay window into a man's character.
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Chet Culver, whose profound fear of western Iowa bears some resemblance to the spine-shivering Villisca residents had after the 1912 ax murders, now has significantly the same position on abortion as Nussle.
There may be some squabbling around the edges over things like parental consent. But if a woman can have an abortion in the first trimester for any reason whatsoever the rest of the debate just isn't all that meaningful.
The purpose of this column isn't to attempt to sway anyone's position on abortion.
Rather it is to point out that Nussle either had an Everest-sized epiphany one night or he is captaining the good ship Mixed Message or he is a, cue the 2004 Republican National Convention audience chorus, "flip-flop, flip-flop."
